In a television show where all the regular cast members work in the medical profession (and even recurring secondary characters include nurses, a former surgeon, and a veterinarian), a show set around hospitals with Grace and Mercy in their names, you could draw the logical conclusion that the show’s central theme is healing. Of course, in the case of Grey’s Anatomy, you would be wrong.

At the beginning and end of each episode, title character Meredith Grey provides voiceovers that clue viewers in to the theme. Some of the concepts echoed in both the show’s main plot and subplots include time, family, anger, gluttony, deception, denial, and competition. However, while there may have only been one episode that specified destruction as its theme (“The Self-Destruct Button,” 1-7), as far as I can tell, the concept of destruction in its various forms has been the backbone of the series for the entire first two seasons.

Perhaps destruction is an apt core concept for a show set in a hospital-how many car accident victims, broken bones, and gunshot wounds are treated daily in emergency rooms across the country? What stands out for me, though, are the number of cases on Grey’s Anatomy where the “victim” is also the perpetrator. The most innocuous of these self-inflicted examples are complete accidents, like a teen-pageant hopeful causing herself grave but virtually undetectable injury when she fell doing rhythmic gymnastics (“A Hard Day’s Night,” 1-1) or the man who inadvertently shot his skull full of nails (“No Man’s  …